America Exclusive: Unreleased Early ’70s Demos

Omnivore Recordings, in association with America’s founding members Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, will release Heritage: Home Recordings/Demos 1970-1973 on Nov. 17. This is the most comprehensive collection of known demo recordings and unreleased songs from the band’s early formative years.

Scroll to the bottom to listen to an exclusive premiere of the track “Sea of Destiny,” from a 1970 demo recording.

According to a press release, “Sons of U.S. servicemen stationed in England, Bunnell, Beckley and Dan Peek met in high school in 1967. The three teenagers ultimately formed a band that was inspired by the British Invasion. Soon they began writing their own material, a rich mix of pop, folk and rock, done in the burgeoning acoustic style that would soon achieve popularity worldwide. The group signed to Warner Bros. Records London in 1971 and needed a name . . . they chose America.”

From 1970 to ’73, America released a string of singles for Warner Bros. including the #1 hits “A Horse With No Name” and “Sister Golden Hair” and the top 10 “I Need You,” “Ventura Highway,” “Lonely People” and “Tin Man.”

Watch the trailer for Heritage: Home Recordings/Demos 1970-1973

Ten tracks make their appearance for the very first time on Heritage, which “showcases the hugely successful trio in its most embryonic and intimate form,” according to the release.

Fans will hear early demos recorded before America’s self-titled debut album from Chalk Hill Farm Studios outside of London; home recordings and previously unissued songs from Gerry Beckley’s Buzz Studios (his home in West Hollywood during the early ’70s); and an early take of one of the band’s signature songs (“Ventura Highway”) from Record Plant West in Los Angeles. (And if you listen closely, you’ll find a hidden bonus track of the band’s first #1 single from 1972, a cappella!)